Special Topics in Digital Arts and Experimental Media

Experiential Surrealism, Site Specfic Digital Art: The history of art has a long and deep fascination with creating abstracted and surreal realities within our mind's landscape. In the second half of the 20th Century pioneers in EarthArt managed to embed these realities into our physical landscape, rather than leaving the representations inside of the rectilinear picture frame. Other artists began working with digital projections and lighting to create new spaces or skins on the surface of physical reality with the goal of augmenting and altering our visual reality. The primary focus of this class is to implant students with a specific theoretical thread in an art historical discourse that will empower them to recognize the myriad of possibilities capable for embedding further layers of dimensionality into our physical reality through the use of technology and research on the nature of the materials, spaces and systems they intend to augment. The students will choose specific spaces or systems; rearrange, reform or reinvent them with the primary goal in mind of creating a site specific augmented version of the original reality. Various techniques for exploring ways of doing this will be presented, including basic digital sound and image manipulation techniques, video, mechatronics and finally art historical research on logic systems and poetic discourses invoked in works of a similar type.

Group work, tribal learning, field trips, many examples of various works for inspiration.

Recommended preparation

A background and deep interest in art and computing.

Class assignments and grading

Short turnaround studio based "studies" intended for the purpose of liberating the imagination and seeding long term projects to be potentially carried out as the artist furthers his/her own practice later on in their career.

Creativity and ability to take risks. Depth of engagment with the materials and ideas presentd in class. The degree of technical execution and craft of the final product or experience. Ability to adequately scale idea to time alotted and resources available.

The information above is intended to be helpful in choosing courses. Because the instructor may further develop his/her plans for this course, its characteristics are subject to change without notice. In most cases, the official course syllabus will be distributed on the first day of class.Additional Information
Last Update by Allison Kudla
Date: 07/19/2007

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Modified:April 23, 2014